Disability Studies Commons^™

Click-Enter-Send: The Relationship Experiences Of People Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired In Text-Based Workspaces, Kelly Bleach

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Companies have increasingly turned to text-based communications to recruit, hire, and manage a distributed remote workforce. For people who are blind or visually impaired, this movement presents both challenges and opportunities for attaining and retaining employment. Does the potential isolation of telework have a negative effect on workplace relationships for people who are blind or visually impaired? Does participation in text-based workspaces mitigate stereotypes and stigmatization experienced by people with visible disabilities? Using a constructivist grounded theory framework, this study explored how people who are blind or visually impaired experience relationships in text-based workspaces. Building and maintaining social connections and …

Does Speech-To-Text Assistive Technology Paired With Graphic Organizers Improve The Written Expression Of Students With Traumatic Brain Injuries?, Kayla Cuifolo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can range from mild to severe and can cause debilitating outcomes that require children to need specialized medical or educational services post-injury. Outcomes vary and are dependent on the location of injury, age, severity, and environmental factors. Some common deficits that happen as a result of a brain injury are fine motor and executive functioning skill difficulties. Fine motor and executive functioning skills are an important component of written expression. Therefore, this current study utilized a brief experimental analysis in order to determine the effects that speech-to-text assistive technology along with a graphic organizer has …

Stimming Expresses Empathy, Not To Be Masked Or Persecuted: A Scoping Review And Case Study Of The “Double-Empathy Problem” Solved By Recognizing The Autism Language, Kathryn Haas

Student Capstone Papers

This article critically examines autism and autistic stimming through the lenses of neurotypicals and autistics, evaluates confines currently imposed upon autistics by neurotypical society, and synthesizes what autistic leaders have expressed about their experiences striving for inclusion (Gernsbacher, 2017; Milton, 2012). Autistic-led studies are now at the forefront of the neurodiversity movement and are growing in fervor. The following themes were identified: (a) prevalence of autism, (b) the interpretation and measurement of empathy, (c) discovery of genetic factors transformed autistics’ identity, (d) publication of non-genetic factors such as vaccines undermined the legitimacy of the autism language, (e) the problem with …

The Predictive Influence Of Challenging Behavior On Parent Stress In Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Paige Weir

LSU Master's Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication, restricted interest, and repetitive patterns of behavior. Individuals with ASD also exhibit challenging behaviors that affect parent and caregiver stress directly. However, researchers have not yet examined the predictive influence of specific challenging behaviors on parent stress, particularly in young children (i.e., infants and toddlers) with ASD. Therefore, the current study expands existing literature by a) investigating the influence that challenging behaviors of young children with ASD have on parent stress and b) examining the unique contribution that each behavior (i.e., aggressive/disruptive behavior, stereotypy, and self-injurious …

A Phenomenological Replication Study On The Unique Challenges Experienced By Veterans Diagnosed With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd) While Attending A California State University (Csu) In Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Or Orange County, Ralph Martinez

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological replication study was to understand the unique challenges experienced by veterans diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) while attending a California State University (CSU) in Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, or Orange County. Furthermore, it was the intent of this study to explore the current and prospective services veteran students believe were helpful or would be helpful in promoting positive academic outcomes.

A phenomenological approach was utilized in the development of this qualitative research study to explore the lived experiences of veteran students diagnosed with PTSD attending a California State University (CSU) in Riverside, …

Facial Affect As A Component Of Emotion Regulation During Inhibitory Control In Fxs, Abigail Digby, Erin Hunt

Senior Theses

The present study investigated emotion regulation through facial affect during inhibitory control in FXS. Male participants (N=32) were asked to complete a task that induced frustration. An M&M was placed in front of the subject, and they were instructed not to eat the M&M until the trial has ended, marked by the ringing of a bell. The subject’s facial affect was observed and recorded throughout the 6 trials to investigate the differences between the emotion regulation of TD and FXS children. It was hypothesized that the TD group would be less expressive, and more negative than the TD children. It …

A Minority Within A Minority: Exploring Identity Development In Relation To Mental Health Outcomes Within The Black Deaf Community, Nekolas Milton

Doctoral Dissertations

Black Deaf people are a double minority group that faces discrimination on multiple fronts. There is little literature on the relationship of cultural identity development and mental health concerns of this marginalized group. This study employs a mixed method approach to examine this relationship and explore the extant culturally tailored interventions targeted towards Black Deaf adults in a clinical setting. There were two phases of this project. Phase 1 included qualitative interviews with service providers of black deaf people to ascertain the type of culturally tailored interventions that are in place for this population. 5 themes emerged: systemic issues, mental …

Inclusion Toward Transformation: Psychosocial Disability Advocacy And Global Mental Health, Justin M. Karter

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The Movement for Global Mental Health (MGMH) has been met with criticism for reifying Western conceptions of mental disorders and diverting resources from the investigation, intervention, and education regarding the social determinants of mental health. Advocates identifying as a person with a psychosocial disability are organizing to transform the MGMH from a top-down, individualized, and universal approach toward a rights-based conception that accounts for the cultural, political, and economic conditions that produce distress and disability. Using a qualitative, hermeneutic, interpretative-phenomenological analysis (IPA), this research study focused on how people with a lived experience of mental distress and treatment come to …

Physical Education And Extracurricular Activity Participation Of Autistic, Neurodivergent, Disabled Trans Adults, Steven Kelly Holland

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Disabled trans students may be multiply marginalized and/or have reduced access to otherwise affirming gender identity- or disability-related spaces in educational contexts because of their intersectional identities. At present, a limited understanding of disabled trans students school experiences are known. This dissertation was constructed using a two-manuscript format. The purpose of the first study was to investigate the physical education experiences of disabled trans adults. The study was conducted from an interpretivist paradigm and used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the lived experiences of disabled trans adults. Six adults (aged 18-30), who identified as: autistic, neurodivergent, disabled, trans, non-binary, …

Children As Mischievous Spirits: Legitimizing Child Cruelty And Filicide In Contemporary Africa, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The belief that certain humans are spiritual entities and the belief that some people are spiritually possessed can be found across histories and cultures. While these individuals are not always viewed in the negative or treated inhumanely, cases abound whereby degrading and inhumane treatments are meted out to some of them. In the African continent, certain groups of people, particularly children are linked to certain mischievous spirits due to their unusual appearance, aberrant behavior, disability, chronic illness, psychopathology or exceptional ability. Some are also suspected and consequently mistreated due to events surrounding their birth. Such children are known by different …

Exploring Tactile Art-Making With Deafblind Students And Their Families: An Opportunity For Creative Play, Alice Rodgers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The impact of a deafblind diagnosis on an individual’s mental health and the well-being of the family involved can be profound. However, current research and available literature for the mental health treatment and therapy practices of deafblind persons and their families is limited (Kyzar et al., 2016; “WFDB Global Report 2018,” n.d.). This thesis used the Leeds Family Psychology and Therapy Service principles (Leeds FPTS) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum with established deafblind teaching strategies to facilitate an original arts-based community project entitled: “Things We Like.” This project provided an opportunity for deafblind students (ages three to 22) and their …

Reiki For Recovery: Incorporating Japanese Health Practices To Increase Contemporary Resiliency In American Health, Leif Peterson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Japanese health practice of Reiki attempts to maximize the latent ability of the human system to heal itself. The Reiki system, established over a century ago, combines multiple Asian health traditions, experimenting with practices that maximize the natural processes of the body to perform its own repairs. Reiki encourages healthy behaviors that balance the mind and body, return the human system to a lowered stress level, and allow for an optimal recovery state for the patient. This paper illustrates how this Japanese health-affirming method can be integrated and utilized within existing health and medical practices. An area that is …

Types Of Bias-Based Bullying And School Climate Perceptions, Attendance, And Grades, Erin Bonham, Meghan Cosier, Desiree Crevecoeur-Macphail

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Bias-based bullying relating to disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity has extremely detrimental effects on the victim’s school climate perceptions, attendance records, and academic achievement. This study used a cross-sectional research design to compare the self-reported school climate perceptions, attendance habits, and grades of student victims of disability-based bias-related bullying and sexual orientation- and gender identity-based bias-related bullying using secondary data from the California Healthy Kids Survey. Participants (N = 713,107) filled out the California Healthy Kids Survey self-report surveys in the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. Regression analyses and a two-sample t-test were used to analyze and compare the …

Explanatory Models Of Autism In Nigeria: Exploring Sociocultural Beliefs To Inform Systems Of Care, Gabrielle Udoka Robertson

Honors Theses

Advancements in the diagnosis, understanding, and treatment of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have yet to benefit children and families struggling with ASD in Nigeria and other African countries. Not only is there a scarcity of research on ASD in sub- Saharan Africa, but also a lack of mental health and special education services and a lack of understanding of the sociocultural considerations that must inform culturally responsive care. As such, this study explored the sociocultural conceptualizations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nigeria and how these conceptualizations affect the experiences and care of people with autism. The unique …

Equine-Assisted Services For Children With Disabilities, Mara Kleinman

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Counselors' Experiences Of A Virtual Summer Camp, Catherine Bell

Honors Theses

Youth with developmental disabilities (DD) often have limited opportunities for social support and community engagement. Summer camps to meet their specific needs - physical, social or emotional - are intended to help reduce this limitation and provide youth with DD the same opportunities as typical children. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many camps and organizations to prohibit in-person or face-to-face activities, and as a result, Camp Ability created a virtual platform for campers to still engage in a summer camp experience. Camp Ability’s counselors (n = 5) were interviewed at the conclusion of the camp session, and three major themes were …

Early Communication Abilities Of 24-Month-Old Children With Williams Syndrome As Measured By The Communication Complexity Scale., Sean B. Woods

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with intellectual disability accompanied by a distinct cognitive profile. Despite their socially outgoing nature, children with WS exhibit delayed communication development and specific deficits across various functions of communication. The purpose of this study was to describe the range of communication complexity observed in 24-month-olds with WS and determine relations between communication complexity and other areas of cognitive development. The communication complexity of 17 24-month-old children with WS was measured using the Communication Complexity Scale (CCS), which quantifies optimal and typical communication complexity, as well as optimal communication for Joint Attention (JA) …

The Relations Between Maternal Language Input And Language Development For Children With Williams Syndrome., Katarina L. Mayer

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

For typically developing (TD) children, maternal language input (MLI) is an important contributor to early language development. Until now, possible relations between MLI and language development for children with Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder associated with language delay and intellectual disability, have not been addressed. The aim of the present study was two-fold: to examine concurrent relations between MLI and child language abilities at 24 months and to determine if individual differences in MLI and children’s lexical and cognitive abilities at 24 months make significant unique contributions to the variance in child language abilities at 48 months for …

Learning About Healthy Relationships And Sexuality For Adults With Disabilities, Vanessa Karjack

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Many adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities receive little to no sex education; as a result, they often struggle to have fulfilling and healthy relationships, experience limitations in physical interactions, and are at risk of being taken advantage of by others. Sommaro et al. (2019) explained that individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) and developmental disabilities (DD) are often placed into one of two categories: they are treated as either eternal children or sexual deviants. These ideas are based on old knowledge and are known to be inaccurate. However, current systems of care struggle to move forward from these notions. A …

Content Validity Of Aba Language Assessments In The Totality Of Skinner's Verbal Operant Theory, Taylor Marie Lauer

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Content validity describes the degree of which a measure represents all the components of the overall construct being measured. Behavior analytic language assessments are largely based on Skinner’s verbal operant theory (1957). Three behavior analytic language assessments were utilized to measure the coverage of Skinner’s verbal behavior theory: the VB-MAPP, ABLLS-R, and PEAK. The purpose of the current study was to examine the content validity of each of these assessments coverage on the totality of Skinner’s verbal operant theory. Expressive items on each of the three assessments were compared to definitions of Skinner’s verbal operants and were coded as the …

Everyday Memory In People With Down Syndrome, Yingying Jennifer Yang, Zachary M. Himmelberger, Trent Robinson, Megan Davis, Frances Conners, Edward Merrill

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Although memory functions in people with Down Syndrome (DS) have been studied extensively, how well people with DS remember things about everyday life is not well understood. In the current study, 31 adolescents/young adults with DS and 26 with intellectual disabilities (ID) of mixed etiology (not DS) participated. They completed an everyday memory questionnaire about personal facts and recent events (e.g., school name, breakfast). They also completed a standard laboratory task of verbal long-term memory (LTM) where they recalled a list of unrelated words over trials. Results did not indicate impaired everyday memory, but impaired verbal LTM, in people with …

A Case Study On The Application And Implementation Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports For Students With Emotional Disabilities In Alternative Education, Kira Candelieri Marcari

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Alternative educational settings are serving students with emotional disabilities (ED) at an increasing rate; however, there a paucity of research examining the effectiveness of these programs. A review of the existing literature targeting students with problematic behaviors, supports the use of a positive, preventative, proactive, and systematic approaches such as the three-tiered, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) framework. Although findings suggest that the PBIS framework is associated with favorable outcomes for students with ED in both traditional and nontraditional settings, few studies have explicitly examined whether PBIS can be effectively modified to fit the needs of students with ED …

A Survey Of Registered Behavior Technicians: Initial And Ongoing Training And Support, Gabriela Mcwhorter Zapatero

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) benefit from early intervention, specifically applied behavior analysis (ABA). ABA is often implemented by paraprofessionals who are known as registered behavior technicians (RBTs). For many years, educators have known the value of corrective feedback in relation to skill acquisition. In this case, emphasis was placed on the proclivities of the staff in regard to feedback. This mixed methodology study examined the various strategies currently utilized to instruct RBTs, as well as their preferences for initial and continued training. Results indicated the majority of RBTs who responded to the online survey were being trained …

Coming Together During Covid-19: A Mixed Methods Exploratory Study On Collective Efficacy In A State Developmental Disabilities Network, Arden D. Day, Michele Sky Lee, Ronda Jenson, Erica Mcfadden, Maureen Russell, Kelly Roberts, John Mcdermott, Nicholas Blum

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Background: Collective efficacy (CE) is a group’s shared belief that through their united efforts they can overcome challenges to achieve common goals (Bandura, 1993; 1997). CE has been shown to be related to professional growth, stress reduction, and overall collaborative impact in studies of groups responding to ongoing challenges as well as unforeseen circumstances (i.e. teachers, first-responders, and community responses to natural disasters) (Benight, 2004; Donohoo, 2016; Prati et al., 2011). COVID-19 has forced organizations serving individuals with disabilities to come together to adapt and change the ways in which they serve the disability community.

Objective: This study examines …

Mental Health Supportive Services During Covid-19: Proposing An Online, Self-Guided Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Program For Parents In The Disability Community, Ty B. Aller, Elizabeth B. Fauth, Sarah Hodgskiss, Jeff Sheen, Michael E. Levin

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Parents of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) often experience stress, and the COVID-19 pandemic has likely increased their stress. In the current paper, we describe four things. First, we describe how mental telehealth treatments can effectively decrease parent stress, including programs that target behavior training and those that provide therapy. Teleheath programs are delivered by phone, computer, or fully online. Second, we describe challenges of these programs and explain how online, self-guided programs may help address these challenges. Third, we explain our online, self-guided program based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a specific type of …

Assessing And Mitigating Risk For Applied Behavior Analysis Providers During A Pandemic, Joshua B. Plavnick Phd, Krista Clancy, Sharon Milberger

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the extent to which human service providers can safely deliver close-contact therapies in which social distancing cannot occur. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one such example, with the pandemic creating several barriers to safely delivering this essential service. The present paper describes the development and administration of a risk assessment and mitigation toolkit that was designed for ABA providers to make decisions about how to identify and mitigate risk in delivering therapeutic services to children with ASD. The toolkit includes considerations for clients, other household members, …

Narrative Experiences Of Fathers Of Children With Down Syndrome, Corey Rose

Educational Studies Dissertations

This dissertation explores the narrative experiences of fathers raising children born with Down syndrome. The study joins a recent stratum of research on parents of children with Down syndrome which is grounded in critical disability theory, adheres to a social model of disabilities, and adopts narrative methodology, but which thus far has not investigated fathers’ experiences. 22 fathers, recruited by means of snowball sampling, participated in a two-question, semi-structured interview with a follow-up conversation. Findings from question one indicated that, in the initial moment of diagnosis, fathers experienced adverse encounters with medical personnel, intense negative emotions about the diagnosis, distressing …

Self Care, Mental Health And Covid-19: An Exploratory Study Of The Coping Strategies Of Caregivers Of Individuals With Autism During The Pandemic (In Hyderabad, India), Triveni Goswami Vernal

BAU Journal - Society, Culture and Human Behavior

COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-19), an infectious condition was first identified in December 2019, in Wuhan, in China. It has led to a worldwide pandemic with millions of people affected—not just health wise, but also economically and psychologically. The uncertainty associated with it, has caused immense anxiety, stress and trauma to people all over the world. India’s response to COVID-19 has comprised of a series of phases of Lockdown and subsequent Unlock. In mid-March, India announced a nationwide Lockdown, that led to the closure of educational institutions, factories, work places, transport, cinema halls, hotels, malls etc. The only places that were open …

Testing A Sociocultural Model Of Body Image In Women Athletes With Disabilities, Brooke R. Lamphere

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Evidence suggests that athletes and people with disabilities (PWD) experience multiple body images that change relative to their social context (e.g., Petrie & Greenleaf, 2012). The powerful influence of social factors on body image and disordered eating in women athletes is well-documented (e.g., Schaefer, et al., 2015; Fitzsimmons-Craft et al., 2014), as is the centrality of the body in the lived experience of athletes and PWD (Behel & Rybarczyk, 2012; Galli et al., 2016); yet, limited research has explored the effects of social factors on body image in athletes with disabilities (i.e., AWD; e.g., Galli et al., 2016; Sousa et …

Neurodiversity And Workplace Social Capital Effects On Employee Attitudes And Intentions, Alice Edwards

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Neurodivergent employees have higher turnover rates than their neurotypical peers, andmuch remains unknown about how to improve their workplace experience. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationships between neurodiversity and workplace social capital on job satisfaction and turnover intent. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) informed the study design. Working adults (N = 1,243) in the United States recruited using convenience sampling and MTurk participated through an anonymous online survey. Data analysis was conducted using three-way ANOVA and mediation. Significant three-way interactions were found between gender, job classification, and likelihood of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) …